Tracking Flow State

In the age of distraction it’s imperative for creatives to enter flow state for as long as possible if we desire to produce our best work. To accomplish this goal I have been using the Pomodoro method for several years now, but in recent months this workflow has become a distraction so I decided to personalize it.

If you’re unfamiliar Pomodoro is the process of setting a timer for 30min (long interval) and turning off all distractions while you focus on completing a specific task followed by 10min breaks (short interval). It’s a great way to build your concentration but depending on the day I sometimes enter into flow state for 70+ minutes and don’t want to be bothered with taking breaks as context switching can be costly.

More technology is not always the right answer but in this case I needed a timer that could measure how long I’m able to concentrate past the initial long interval if I choose to skip a break or two. In theory this should help the user with increasing their baseline concentration time. The solution I came up with is a minimal app that can be used to track flow state without disrupting it.